Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly taking a leading role in the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle so-called “birth tourism” operations, targeting networks accused of helping foreign nationals use fraudulent documents and deceptive visa practices to travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth and securing American citizenship for their children.
The initiative was highlighted during a report Saturday on Fox News, where host Kayleigh McEnany detailed recent actions taken by the State Department against what officials describe as organized schemes designed to exploit U.S. immigration and citizenship laws.
According to McEnany, the administration revoked hundreds of visas over the past week as part of the broader enforcement effort.
“The State Department [is] shutting down a sophisticated tourism network after the U.S. Embassy in West Africa revealed more than 100 foreign nationals were using fraudulent documents and visa fixers to illegally obtain American citizenship,” McEnany reported.
She added that similar activity had been uncovered elsewhere.
“It was a similar story in North Africa,” McEnany said. “Over 100 visas were just revoked as embassy there said expecting mothers were coming to America to give birth for the sole purpose of giving their child American citizenship.”
The report also pointed to concerns in Europe, where officials have identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases since 2024.
McEnany later spoke with State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, who described the operations as organized networks seeking to profit from access to American citizenship.
“These are networks that are essentially trying to sell citizenship to the United States as if it was a commodity,” Pigott said.
According to Pigott, the schemes go beyond arranging travel and often involve coaching applicants on how to deceive American officials during the visa process.
“That includes coaching people on how to defraud U.S. Consular Officers to try to obtain a visa through fraud,” he said.
Pigott also argued that the financial burden created by some of these cases frequently falls on American taxpayers.
He said that in many instances, birth tourists pay only minimal medical expenses associated with childbirth in the United States, leaving taxpayers responsible for covering remaining costs.
“That is outrageous, that is unacceptable, we are putting a stop to it,” Pigott said.
The crackdown follows a State Department announcement made earlier in the week, in which the agency said it was “defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes.”
The issue arrives amid a broader national debate over birthright citizenship and how existing laws are interpreted and applied. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the current system, describing it as a “great scam” that wealthy foreign nationals have learned to exploit.
Supporters of stricter enforcement argue that citizenship should not be treated as a product available through manipulation of visa rules or fraudulent paperwork. They contend that protecting the integrity of the immigration system requires aggressive action against individuals and organizations accused of facilitating such practices.
At the same time, the renewed focus on birthright citizenship comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers related legal questions. The Court is expected to issue a decision sometime this summer, a ruling that could have significant implications for the ongoing debate surrounding citizenship and immigration policy in the United States.
